


Supernatural On Ice

by Tennyo



Category: Supernatural, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, SPN - current season, Team Free Will, Viktor with a K, YOI - post season 1, but handwaving some current SPN plot, katsudonbang2017, mostly g-rated, nobody you know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 01:16:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10547558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tennyo/pseuds/Tennyo
Summary: The Yuri on Ice & Supernatural crossover you didn't ask for.After the end of the skating season, an invitation for a late spring/early summer exhibition show brings Viktor, Yuuri, and others to Winnipeg, Canada. But there is something not quite right, as people have been disappearing from the area.Lured by the unexplained disappearances, Dean, Sam, and Cas go undercover as maintenance staff at the stadium where the skaters practice, to try to get to the bottom of the mystery. But hey, at least Dean gets to drive a Zamboni.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank Heartmurmur for choosing my story! You can find her awesome [Art Post Here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10547602).  
> Also, thanks to Elizabeth and Emily for being fantastic betas!
> 
> Fic is marked as Teen+ because of the monster scene and some mild swearing. Otherwise, it's mostly G-rated.
> 
> There are a couple multilingual conversations, and I just used English for most of it:  
> Japanese: 「」  
> Russian: [ ]  
> Everything else has translations in parentheses.
> 
> *Note: I named Christophe's boyfriend something I felt was humorous... IDK if it works, but it stayed through repeated edits bc my betas never told me no.
> 
> There are some commercials mentioned, they're linked in end notes. (you should watch them)

After the festivities of the Grand Prix Final ended, Viktor Nikiforov went directly to St. Petersburg to begin training for the Russian Nationals. While he didn’t plan on winning, he had only a short time until his return to competition to prepare two new routines. While he was in Russia, Yuuri Katsuki went home to get ready for his own Nationals in Japan, and to prepare for his move to St. Petersburg so he could train with Viktor.

Yuuri won Gold at the Japan Nationals, with Kenjirou Minami close behind winning Silver. The kid was good, and Yuuri wondered how much harder he’d have to work come next season to stay ahead.

Viktor got a bronze at the Russian Nationals, causing a bit of a scandal. Apparently some of the officials didn’t even want Viktor to compete, since his return was on such short notice. It resulted in his fans launching a relentless social media campaign until they accepted him. This translated to the judges being extremely critical of his routines, resulting in lower scores. With all this going on, they were still waiting to see if Viktor would be accepted to the European Championships at the end of January.

In the meantime, Yuuri settled into life in Viktor’s apartment and got to know the new rink and area. He got a taste of how Viktor must have felt travelling to Japan by himself for the first time. New to the Cyrillic alphabet, Yuuri couldn’t even hope to try to phonetically pronounce the words he saw. Thankfully, he usually had Viktor at his side.

The European Championship was touch-and-go for a while, since other skaters thought they would have a chance to place without Viktor present. But public outcry allowed him entry, similar to the Russian competition, with him once again getting judged excessively harsh. He placed fourth but wasn’t disappointed, and calmly shushed his outraged fans when they heard his scores. Yuuri sat quietly by his side and tried to not read the media articles about how he was responsible for pulling Viktor down from his pedestal.

While Yuuri trained for Four Continents, they received an invitation to join a post-season exhibition tour. A Canadian company, in conjunction with a group of retired North American skaters, was planning a late Spring and early Summer tour through Canada and the United States. It would last about two months, and the organizers promised plenty of time to practice for the upcoming season.

* * *

_April:_

The organizers of the Legends On Ice tour have decided to make their home base an older, abandoned stadium on the outskirts of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It can be used as a regular skating rink and arena the rest of the year. They’ve received positive responses from most of the current competitive skaters they’ve invited, and thanks to their roster of retired skaters, they’ve been able to recruit a couple of famous European skaters who no longer compete. Unfortunately, most of those who tour with Plushenko’s exhibition tour are unavailable. The good news is they will be getting Viktor Nikiforov, along with his fiance Yuuri Katsuki. The organizers hope to draw crowds with the controversial pair.

While renovating the aging stadium, they’ve run into some issues. Vagrants weren’t as big a problem as they expected, but the project has been plagued with accidents, and workers keep disappearing. But the organizers don’t waver and keep with the project, barely finishing just a week before skaters are scheduled to arrive to start practicing.

* * *

Yuuri and Viktor arrive with Yuri and Mila all at once. Georgi opted to stay behind in Russia, and Yakov will come later to check up on them. They’re picked up by a shuttle and taken to the freshly renovated stadium. It’s the first time Yuuri’s been back in the Americas since graduating college, and he can’t wait to explore Winnipeg. It’s comforting to see English signs again.

J.J. is already here, and he greets everyone warmly, even Yuri who scowls at him. They’re being housed in a short-term, furnished apartment complex with everyone else, and the stadium is their first stop for orientation and to meet the organizers and choreographers, as well as pick up some welcome packages.

They’re getting shown the rink and locker rooms, when Yuuri gets a message from Phichit. He’ll be arriving tomorrow afternoon. Yuuri promises to be here to meet him. While he’s tucking his phone back in his pocket, Viktor reaches for his hand.

“Everything OK?” he asks, sliding their palms together, giving Yuuri’s a squeeze.

“Yeah, Phichit’s coming tomorrow.”

Viktor nods and smiles, rubbing his thumb across the back of his hand. “And you’re planning to be here to welcome him, right?”

“If I can.”

Raising their joined hands, Viktor kisses Yuuri’s knuckles. “Whatever you want.”

A gagging sound behind them comes from Yuri. “I hope I’m housed as far away from your place as possible, you’re damn gross.”

The facility is impressive, the renovations producing gleaming floors, fresh carpet and paint, and an immaculate rink. The Zamboni is smoothing the ice when they pass by on their way to a conference room. Housing assignments, keys, maps, and schedules are handed out, and Yuri trades with Mila when he sees which unit number Yuuri and Viktor get.

The two organizers they’re meeting are friendly and enthusiastic, and spend an hour talking about what they have planned for the next couple of months. They’re retired American skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Brian Boitano. Everyone’s encouraged to choose which of this year’s competition routines they’d like to use for the tour, with Yuuri and Viktor being highly encouraged to perform their pair skate. Nancy claps her hands and says she can’t wait to see it in person, that it was exciting to watch on TV. Yuuri blushes at the praise, and hides his face against Viktor’s shoulder.

Next week is when choreography for the group and special programs begin, so until then, everyone is encouraged to use the rink at their leisure, and to speak to the manager about scheduling practice times. “Alright, I think that’s everything for now,” says Brian, “Our numbers and emails are in the packet, feel free to contact us if you have any questions. In the meantime, I’m sure you’re jetlagged, so we’ll let you get settled in.”

They’re herded back out to the shuttle van, and Yuuri is the last to get in. Pausing at the van’s door, he can’t help but feel like he’s being watched. He looks around, but doesn’t see anything. Huh.

“Get in the damn van, pork bowl!” Yuri barks, which gets him a flick on the ear from Viktor as Yuuri climbs in.

* * *

_Meanwhile, at a secret bunker in Kansas:_

A tall man with long, brown hair and a plaid shirt is sitting at a table, scrolling through internet news results. Something catches his eye, and he clicks on an article from a Canadian news source.

ANOTHER MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE IN WINNIPEG

He bookmarks the article and keeps scrolling.

Another man walks in, with much shorter hair and wearing a button-up chambray shirt over a black t-shirt. He has two plates with sandwiches and chips, and he heads toward the man at the computer. “Hey Sammy, lunchtime.”

Sam looks up from the computer, and pushes the laptop aside. “What’s this?” He gives a teasing look. “They look like normal sandwiches, Dean. Are we running low on groceries?”

Smirking, Dean drops the plate in front of Sam. “Funny. No, but the turkey’s gonna go bad if we don’t eat it.”

While Dean takes a seat across from him, Sam smells his sandwich, just in case. “I think I may have found a case, but…” Instead of finishing his sentence, Sam takes a bite.

“But what?” Dean says around his own mouthful of meat and bread.

Sam takes the time to chew and swallow. “But it’s in Canada.”

There’s a moment where Dean just blinks at him. “Okay, so where in Canada? Because if it’s Vancouver again, I swear—”

“No, this one’s in Winnipeg, and unless we stop and see Jody on the way, we’re looking at…” Sam does some mental calculations. “About a 12 hour drive?”

They’re discussing how to make it across the border when a man with dark hair and a tan trenchcoat enters the room. “Hello Dean, Sam.”

“Hey Cas. We’re thinking of taking a trip to Canada for a case,” Dean says, gathering the now empty sandwich plates.

Cas watches him exit, not turning to face Sam until Dean’s form completely disappears around the doorway. “What kind of case is it?”

Sam tells Cas about the missing workers, and how it all started when the renovations to the old stadium began. “I’m thinking it could be some kind of spirit, but it bothers me that none of the missing workers have been found, not even a hint as to where bodies might be kept. So it’s probably some kind of monster eating them.”

They’re still talking when Dean enters the room, a beer in one hand. “Sounds like fun, right Cas?”

Cas looks up at Dean a moment before dropping his eyes, shoulders slumping. “Please be careful and come back safe.”

“What?” Sam looks at Cas wide-eyed, eyebrows raised, his forehead creased in confusion.

Dean stands a couple feet from the table, expression on his face shifting from confused, to hurt, to resigned. His jaw squares before he says, “Right, you have somewhere else you need to be then?”

It’s Cas’ turn to look confused, and he raises his head to look up at Dean. “No, I was planning on staying here while you were gone.”

A snort erupts from Sam, and both Dean and Cas turn to face him. “And you thought we’d just leave you behind?”

Cas blinks at Sam, a little stunned. “I… didn’t expect…”

“So Cas, do you wanna come with us or not?” Dean stands there, arms crossed, face blank from years of practice.

Slowly, a smile transforms Cas’ face, as he realizes they want him to join them on this hunt. “I’d enjoy that very much.”

“That settles it then.” Dean takes a swig from his beer, the corners of his mouth pulling up. “Sam, better get on our contacts for three passports.”

The next morning, all three of them are in the sleek, black 1967 Chevy Impala to pick up their fake passports and head north to Canada. Once they make it to Winnipeg, they find a reasonable motel and get to researching. Looking into the stadium doesn’t turn up much in the way of previous suspicious deaths, so they go find the foreman of the stadium construction and remodel.

What they find is both surprising and disturbing. The foreman reveals the unusual lack of homeless population in the stadium pre-construction, and how that was odd compared to other jobs he’s had.

“You don’t just leave a building like that empty for 10 years, and go in to find only a handful of the really desperate or newbies living there.”

He also goes on to explain about some of the missing workers from the site, and how at first, they thought it was just temporary workers dropping out. But when his regular crew started going missing, it became a problem. It’s also a problem for the Winchesters, because that means there are even more victims than originally suspected, and they have no idea how long it’s been happening.

More research doesn’t really help, since homeless disappearances often go unreported. Until they get a list of temp workers that have gone missing, their only real leads are the missing who have actually been filed with law enforcement. Cas offers to ask around with the homeless population, while the Winchesters work on the rest of the missing. They don’t even know where to start with finding out what might be doing this yet, and they still need to get into the stadium.

Before they split up for their investigations, Dean fusses over Cas, making sure he’s got plenty of back-up weapons on him.

“Dean,” Cas argues, “Don’t forget, while I may not have use of my wings, I’m _still_ an angel.”

Dean frowns, and pats Cas’ shoulder before turning away. “Yeah, but… Until we know what we’re dealing with, you could get jumped by anything.”

Cas looks at Dean’s tense shoulders, and a tiny smile forms before he says, “I know, Dean.”

Dressed in a ratty t-shirt, torn jeans, and a hoodie, Cas wishes the Winchesters good luck and steps out of the room. Dean scowls at the closed door until Sam tells him they have their own investigating to do, throwing a necktie at him. “C’mon, we need to go pretend to be the law.”

* * *

Viktor lands a quad toe, progresses to a combo spin and stretches, hands above his head, then scratches to a stop. Breathing hard, he skates to the boards, where a bottle of water and towel are waiting. He leans over the boards, sees Yuuri stretching on the floor. Leaning further forward, he offers a hand. “You want to go eat after this? I’m craving poutine.”

Yuuri throws him a dirty look. “Ugh, _poutine_. Are you trying to make me fat, Viktor?”

Laughing, Viktor pulls him up and gives him a kiss on the lips. “I’ll make sure you work it off later, _lyubov_.”

Eyes wide, Yuuri’s face flushes red.

“Come, we’ll share a serving,” says Viktor.

Phichit takes to the ice, phone in hand and a smile on his face. Before he can make it very far, Yuuri yells, “Remember our deal, keep those pictures off the internet!” Phichit gives him a sheepish grin, and nods before picking up speed for a lap around the rink.

While Viktor and Yuuri are gathering their things, one of the stadium crew comes and asks if anyone’s seen the Zamboni driver. He’s been missing since the last resurfacing. Yuuri watches the crewman angrily stomp away and feels a sense of foreboding, but shakes it off.

Later that evening, back in the apartment he shares with Viktor, Yuuri is steaming some broccoli to make up for the damn poutine they had (but god was it good), when Phichit comes over with his hamsters perched on his shoulders. Makkachin gives a welcoming bark, and bounds over to him, causing his hamsters to hide under the collar of his shirt.

“Aah, down, doggie. They think you’re going to eat them!”

Viktor holds Makkachin by the collar as Phichit gets settled on the couch and wrangles his hamsters back out of his clothing. With them settled on his lap, Viktor slowly brings the big, brown poodle closer to give the little creatures time to adjust. While Makkachin is used to smaller animals, Yuri’s cat for instance, the hamsters can’t help but see the dog as a predator at first.

Makkachin gets a good ear scratching and verbal praise from Viktor for holding still while the little hamsters slowly stop huddling in fear in exchange for curiosity. Out of the three, the gray one is the first to sniff at the dog’s ear before trying to climb it. Laughing, Phichit lifts it up to on top of Makkachin’s head.

While making sure the hamster doesn’t get tangled in curly fur, Phichit says, “I overheard something interesting during practice after you left.”

Viktor props his chin on a hand. “Oh? What did you hear, Gossip Master?”

Rolling his eyes at the nickname, Phichit says, “It seems the Zamboni driver has gone missing.”

Shrugging, Viktor leans back in his seat and pats his thighs to attract Makkachin’s attention. “And? Surely there’s more than one person trained to drive the thing.”

Phichit dodges the poodle's tail. “Well yeah, but the interesting part I overheard was the head guy complaining about how many people they’ve lost since they finished remodeling.”

This catches Yuuri’s attention, and he leans through the kitchenette entry. “What do you mean?”

With a glint in his eye, Phichit leans forward conspiratorially. “I also heard that when the construction crews were here, several workers went missing then too, and that people were growing superstitious about the arena by the time they finished.”

Yuuri blinks at him, hands clenched in a kitchen towel. “Don’t mess with us, Phichit.”

“Seriously, I’m not making this up! I really overheard it while I was changing out of my skates.”

A chill runs down Yuuri’s spine. It seems that foreboding feeling might not just be nerves, after all.

The next day, the regular Zamboni driver is still missing, and the other skaters are starting to buzz with the spread of rumors of missing workers. Before lunch break, the organizers come to the rink to ensure everyone that there is nothing wrong, just that they’re working out some growing pains trying to find steady help. It calms most of them down, but Yuuri can’t help but feel a queasiness in the pit of his stomach, and it ruins his jumps for the rest of the day. Thankfully, he’s never by himself during practice, although any stray thoughts of coming to the rink in the middle of the night vanish.

After a fitful night’s sleep, with Viktor’s best attempts at distraction having done nothing more than left him even more exhausted, Yuuri sits on a bench to put on his skates, and watches as three men wearing the rink’s uniform coveralls are led to the edge of the ice by the head maintenance guy. They’re discussing Zamboni operation, and Yuuri knows that means the machine’s going to be on the ice soon. He doesn’t bother putting on his skates yet, and reclines on the bench to listen to the instruction.

Sure enough, he hears the electric engine of the machine turn over, and other skaters vacate the rink. The distinctive voice of Christophe can be heard, and it’s enough to make Yuuri sit up and look when he hears, “Oh my god, you could be Jared’s clone!”

Chris is pretty damn tall for a skater, and when Yuuri finds him, he’s talking to one of the new maintenance men, who is a bit taller even with his shoulders hunched. This one has long-ish hair, and he seems to be hiding his face behind it right now, while Chris tries to get a selfie with him. There’s another new guy off to the side, with messy dark hair, watching in confusion, while the third is standing next to the driver of the Zamboni as it passes, driven by the head maintenance man, laughing like he finds the whole scenario hilarious.

“What’s your name, handsome?” Chris insists as he leans into the tall man’s space. Nobody seems to be willing to rescue the guy from Chris, so Yuuri gets to his feet and heads over to remind a certain Swiss man that not everyone appreciates getting groped as a greeting.

“Leave the poor guy alone, it’s his first day on the job,” calls Yuuri as he comes over.

“But doesn’t he look JUST like my Jared?” Chris skips over with his phone, now open to his camera roll.

The dark haired maintenance guy says, “Sam, wasn’t Jared the name of—”

“That’s enough, Cas!” cries the tall guy — Sam, according to the man named Cas.

Meanwhile, Chris is still swiping through multiple pictures of his lover, Jared. Sure, they might look similar, but this Sam guy seems older than the man Yuuri has seen in person only a handful of times.

“Look, you’ve gone and embarrassed the poor guy.” Yuuri points to Sam, who now has his face in his hands, the dark haired guy standing with a hand on his shoulder in sympathy. “Maybe you should go hang out in the locker room or somewhere until the resurfacing is finished?” Yuuri suggests.

Chris pouts, and gives a nod before turning to head for the locker room. “We’ll talk later!” he calls, waving over Sam, who is now standing straight again, hair brushed away from a reddened face. They do look very similar, after all. Sam murmurs something about trash bags to his co-worker, and heads in the opposite direction.

After both men have departed, Yuuri stands next to the man named Cas, who has turned back to watching the Zamboni. “Sorry about Chris, he can be a little… overwhelming if you’re not used to him.”

Cas turns to face him, and _wow_ , his eyes are blue. Yuuri had grown used to the intense mizudori (water-color) of Viktor’s eyes, but this man has eyes that are like… ruri-iro (royal blue). It’s the difference between a tropical coast, and the ocean’s depths. Realizing he’s been staring, Yuuri mumbles an apology and faces the rink, the machine almost finished with its rounds.

The man standing on the side of the machine waves as it finishes its last loop and heads for the exit, a huge grin on his face. “C’mon, Cas!” he calls with a grin, “We’re gonna see where they dump the snow!”

Cas waves back and nods to Yuuri before departing. Yuuri watches as they disappear behind the doorway of the maintenance entrance. Right. There’s fresh ice, and he needs to warm up. And Viktor will be arriving shortly, so his mind is soon occupied with thoughts about things other than the new maintenance crew. Except for when Chris keeps reminding every new person that shows up about his partner’s supposed doppelgänger.

* * *

It’s after midnight on their first day as part of the maintenance crew for the arena. Dean’s still excited about riding the Zamboni… err, the _ice resurfacer_ (Zamboni’s _only a brand_ , the head dude had declared), and can’t wait until he can drive the thing himself. The only thing he thinks he’ll have a problem with is seeing where he’s going over the snow tank.

It took forever for all the skaters to leave, and now it’s just the maintenance crew cleaning up for the day. Dean, Sam, and Cas have been split up for different tasks, and each of them has an EMF detector to check for ghosts. They do their mopping, the trash-taking, and nothing. Other than the usual hits they get around electrical stuff, not a single abnormal EMF blip anywhere.

Dragging themselves back to the motel, the boys regroup and go over what they know. As far as the police know, none of the disappearances related to the stadium have turned up a single body. None. Cas found out through his homeless research that the stadium is off-limits by common knowledge, and people have gone missing that have tried staying there for as long as it’s been empty. Once again, no bodies have ever been recovered, as far as the people Cas had asked knew about.

Cas offers to go out again tonight to check on a couple more leads, but Dean says, “Dude, it’s late, and we need to show up for our shift tomorrow.”

“Yes, I understand. But I don’t sleep. Remember?”

Scowling, Dean turns to the mini fridge to pull out a beer. “Yeah, do whatever, man. I’m too tired.” He pops the top off his bottle and takes a deep drink on his way to the bed he’d claimed.

Sam looks up from the room’s small table, the laptop already casting a glow on his face. “Just be careful, OK?”

“I will.” Cas goes to the bathroom to change into his ratty jeans and hoodie.

While he’s in there, Sam throws Dean a dirty look, who proceeds to ignore anything but his beer. When Cas comes out, he gathers the assorted weapons he’s supposed to take and slips them into their respective hiding places. The last thing is his angel blade, which he slides up his sleeve. On his way to the door, Cas stops to pick up a backpack, and upends a couple of grocery bags full of granola bars and toiletries into it, to distribute among the homeless he finds along the way.

His hand is on the doorknob when Dean finally speaks. “You have your phone?”

“Yes.”

“Is it charged?”

“Yes.”

“Emergency cash?”

“In my sock.”

“Good.” Dean looks like he’s about to get up and check all these things for himself, but he stubbornly keeps his place on the bed. “So… see you tomorrow then.”

Castiel’s tour of the homeless areas in their area of Winnipeg that night yield results in the form of rumors and an urban legend about a monster that will grab you in the dark. So far it’s their only lead.

The next few days are spent with their time divided between working at the stadium, and trying to figure out just what could be abducting people without a trace.

There’s one day, while Cas is watching Dean drive the ice resurfacer, when the Russian skater with platinum hair comes up to him and asks, “So how long have you two been together?”

Without thinking, Cas answers, “I’ve known Dean for about seven and a half years.”

In Russian, Viktor replies, [Ahh, an old married couple.]

Cas blinks at him. “No,” easily slipping into Russian to reply, [We are merely colleagues.]

[Oh, you know my native tongue! May I ask where you were raised?]

Realizing his mistake, Cas slips back into English. “Oh, I… Um, learned it a long time ago, but am not from the region.”

“Ahh, a _babulya_ in the neighborhood where you grew up then?”

Cas looks away. “You could say that.”

“Well,” Viktor pats Cas’ shoulder. “Your pronunciation is very good.”

Cas nods, and turns to watch the machine smooth out the ice. They stand there a moment, and then Viktor leans close. “And I thought _I_ had to wait a long time.”

But Cas sees Dean is just finishing his last path on the ice and heading for the exit. Having to help with the snow dumping and maintenance, he turns to Viktor, who winks and waggles his fingers, the gold band on his right ring finger glinting. Confused, Cas waves back, and makes his way to the maintenance entrance.

Later, in their motel room, Dean, Sam, and Cas discuss the fact that almost a week has passed with no leads. “Is it possible that our presence here has disrupted its normal patterns?” Cas asks.

“I hope not,” says Sam, who’s studying a map tacked to the wall.

They’ve done everything they could think of, tracking friends and family of previous suspected victims, dug up the original building blueprints, camped out in and around the building at night.

“D’you think maybe it was just a ghost or something, and we chased it off with the hex bags we made?” Dean says, the mouth of a beer bottle an inch from his lips.

“Except there have been no signs of any sort of haunting or spiritual presence,” Cas says, giving Dean a firm look. “No, it must be a creature of some sort. Perhaps it has the ability to shift between dimensions, which is why we haven’t spotted it.”

Taking a swig of beer, Dean gives him a negative grunt, obviously not fond of the theory. “It better not be fucking fairies again.”

“That’s highly doubtful.” Unable to spend his time idle, Cas prepares to leave, pulling on his trenchcoat over the casual clothes to which he has become accustomed to wearing.

“Something wrong, Cas?” asks Sam.

“Yeah, it’s not like going out every night has helped us so far,” snarks Dean.

With a sigh, Castiel places his cellphone in a coat pocket. “I can’t simply sit around waiting for something to happen. There has to be something… I’m going to the stadium. We’re rarely there after hours. Perhaps we’ve missed something.”

Sam rubs a hand over his face. “I’ll come with you. Let me just make sure I have the blueprints on my phone first.”

Looking at his brother like he’s crazy, Dean remains in his chair, feet propped up on the bed. “Yeah, have fun with that.”

Sam gives him a dirty look.

“What?”

“Nothing. Hey, Cas? Do you mind if we stop at Tim Hortons on the way?”

“Not at all, Sam. Why?” asks Cas.

“Just craving something sweet, and since we’ll be up a while, some coffee too.” Sam glances sideways at Dean. “I hear they have a new Timbits flavor.”

“Donut holes!” Dean cries, “Bring me back some donut holes!”

“Get your own donuts, Dean. We’re going to be doing actual work.” Sam checks his gun and tucks it in the back of his jeans. “You ready, Cas?”

“Fine, fine. Let me get my shit together,” Dean calls, swinging his feet off the bed. “I’m driving, and getting as many donuts as I want.”

Cas raises an eyebrow at Sam, who quirks his mouth into a there-and-gone smile. “Sure, but hurry up.”

* * *

The building is quiet, most of the other skaters having left for the day. Yuuri has been having a bad self-esteem day, which makes his skating degrade in front of other people, so Viktor asked for some extra time after hours. He also asked Phichit to make sure Makkachin is walked and fed, and Yuuri’s friend agreed readily.

Now, they’re out on the ice, the lights turned down except for the ones over the rink. Viktor is humming _Stammi_ , and they are quietly practicing their synchronization. He feels Yuuri slowly begin to relax as they go through the motions, and they smoothly glide around each other, finishing the program facing each other, one arm around each other’s waist, looking into each other’s eyes.

“You see, Yuuri? Everything is fine.” Viktor gives Yuuri a quick kiss before skating backward, tugging him along with. “You want to try the lifts and jumps next?”

They’re making a lap around the rink when a side door opens, a dark head of hair poking through. Viktor looks back to Yuuri, who hasn’t noticed the intrusion. Lining up for the lift, he feels Yuuri’s hands on his arms as they begin the move, his hand slipping on Yuuri’s waist over the loose sweatshirt he’s wearing. But he lands safely, and Viktor holds him through the reclined rotation.

“Maybe we shouldn’t try the lift again with the sweatshirt.”

“Sorry, Viktor.”

“No, it’s okay. We’ll remember to change shirts next time.” Glancing up, Viktor sees that there are now three men sneaking their way around the outside of the rink. “It seems there are still some maintenance staff. Do a couple jumps, I’ll see if they need us off the ice.”

Yuuri gives him a small smile, and his fingers slip away as he skates off to gather speed for a jump. Viktor skates his way in the direction of the three figures, and recognizes the new maintenance men. It’s very odd to see so many of them together this late.

“Do they have you on a special project?” he calls out.

The one with the short brown hair comes to the side of the rink with a smile. He thinks the man’s name is Dean. ”Hey, sorry to disrupt your… uh, late practice. Cas here,” Dean pats the darker haired man’s shoulder, “dropped something around here earlier, so we’re just gonna go looking for it.”

Viktor asks why doing so requires all three of them. “Well, you see…” Sam, the one Chris won’t ever let him forget about, says, “we just happened to all be together, and figured we’d find it faster.”

There’s a paper box in Dean’s hands that attracts Viktor’s attention. It bears a distinctive logo that has him exclaiming, “Ooh, are those Timbits?”

Very obviously, Dean tries to hide the box behind his back. “Yeah. Got an assortment.”

“Did you get the new strawberry ones?” Viktor asks, drooling at the thought.

Cas is the one to answer, “Yes, would you like some?” which earns him a glare from Dean.

Reaching out, Viktor wiggles his fingers until the box is within his grasp, Dean not wanting to let go of the handle. Finally, he gets it open and pops one of the pink speckled strawberry timbits into his mouth. “Mmmm, _vkusno_!”

Before he realizes it, he’s eaten a few more, and Yuuri is now standing by his side, peeking into the box. “Are you eating their donuts, Viktor?”

Viktor turns to Yuuri and holds out one for him. “Try the strawberry ones. We should definitely pick some up as a treat later!”

With a whimper, Yuuri looks longingly at the small donut hole, then eats it straight from Viktor’s fingers. He closes his eyes and makes a small sound of pleasure. “Don’t tempt me,” he says when he swallows. Taking the box from Viktor, he carefully closes the lid and hands it back to a very upset Dean. “My apologies.”

Yuuri notices Cas staring intently at the ice. “Do you skate?” He’s seen the man watch them practice before.

“No. I never learned.” Cas turns, looking away.

“Would you like to?” Viktor asks.

“Oh, I don’t want to impose.”

“Nonsense! Consider it repayment for the Timbits. Let’s get you some skates.”

After some discussion, Cas giving Dean a beseeching puppy dog look, and the search for some spare skates, there are five men on the ice. Sam clings to the boards, trying to keep his feet beneath him. Dean admits he’s roller skated a couple times before, but it’s been years. Yuuri leads Cas out, holding both hands as the man gets his bearings on wobbly legs. Dean refuses help, and takes a slow lap with stiff, jerky movements. In spite of Viktor’s encouragement, Sam continues to cling to the boards at the side of the rink as he shuffles over the ice, just trying to not fall down.

Cas soon gets his bearings, and begins to relax as Yuuri shows him the basics such as posture and foot placement. After a couple of laps, Dean’s loosened up and he picks up speed, Viktor keeping pace and making suggestions. Under Yuuri’s watchful eye, Cas is soon doing laps with confidence.

Dean watches Viktor pull off some fancy footwork and asks why he got into figure skating, and not like, hockey. With a thoughtful hum, Viktor does a neat spin to face Dean while skating backwards. “Do you ask a dancer why they don’t just take up jogging for a living?”

“What?”

“You do what your passion drives you to do.” He circles around Dean before asking, “Have you ever had that driving passion, Dean?”

Thinking about how all he’s ever had has been hunting, Dean glances briefly at Cas. But then he focuses straight ahead, remembering he’s playing the part of a glorified janitor. “I guess not.”

“Hmm. You look like a man who does have passion, Dean. Maybe you don’t always show it, but I feel that there is a motivating force that pushes you.”

Uncomfortable with that bit of insight, Dean changes the subject by asking Viktor to show him how to skate backwards. After a few minutes, they notice Yuuri is with Sam, trying to lure him further out onto the ice. But Sam, even hunched over, completely dwarfs Yuuri, so Viktor excuses himself to go help. Chuckling at Sam’s awkwardness, Dean continues practicing changing between skating backwards and forwards.

Cas skates past, his movements now much smoother than before. On his second pass, Dean reaches out, prompting Cas to slow. They skate side by side, falling into an easy rhythm. “So this is kind of fun,” Dean says.

“Yes. I’m glad we all came now.” Cas looks over to where Sam is now slowly lumbering along on his own.

“Yeah.” Dean picks up speed, and Cas follows. Looking over at the two skaters who are practicing some moves in the middle of the rink, Dean asks, “Hey Cas, you’ve been spending time around the skaters. What’s up with those two?”

“Viktor and Yuuri?”

“Yeah. are they like… a thing?”

Cas blinks at him a moment. “What kind of thing?”

“A thing! You know…” Dean makes a vague gesture. “Together. A _thing_.”

Thinking about it as they make their way around the far curve of the rink, Cas watches the couple move in perfect harmony together. “Why do you ask?”

Dean makes another hand gesture at them. “Because they’re like… _look_ at them.”

The two men skate flawlessly together, taking turns as the lead, a hand caressing a face, another skimming a waist in a turn. “They work well together as a team,” Castiel muses.

“Yeah, but you can’t tell me they’re not banging.”

“Why do you say that?” It’s unusual for Dean to bring up this kind of topic between two men.

“Dude, it’s how they _look at each other_.”

Cas feels a bit of alarm at this, remembering his conversation with Viktor earlier. “Well, they are engaged, so I suppose the way they gaze upon one another would denote a certain closeness.”

Dean clenches his jaw and rolls his eyes. “They’re _engaged_? Sometimes I think you bury the lead on purpose.”

Pursing his lips to hide a smile, Cas shifts with angelic grace so he’s skating backwards in front of Dean. He holds out a hand. “Would you like to go faster?”

Accepting the challenge, Dean grabs his hand and pushes harder against the ice, picking up speed. During one of their passes by Sam who is shuffling stiff-legged, they hear him call: “Show offs!”

It’s another few minutes when Cas says, “Dean, can you skate backwards?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Swap places?”

There’s a moment when Dean thinks he might fall over, but he finds his rhythm going backwards; Cas closes his eyes, and says, “Faster,” his coat flapping with the speed.

It’s a short while later, that they stop so Dean can catch his breath, and Cas’ hair is even more disheveled, a radiant look on his face. “You sure seemed to be enjoying that,” Dean says.

“It reminds me of flying.”

Sam catches up to them, stopping by slamming into the wall. “You guys remember we came here to look for something, right?”

Oh, yeah.

* * *

After the three maintenance men leave the rink, Viktor and Yuuri spend a little more time practicing before they decide to go back to their apartment. It seems that helping teach the other men to skate relieved some of Yuuri’s anxiety. While they’re leaving the rink, Yuuri feels a sensation of being watched, and he clings to Viktor’s arm.

They’re getting ready for bed, Viktor changing clothes while Yuuri brushes his teeth. Makkachin comes up to him, so he gives the dog a scratch behind the ears with his free hand. Viktor has been telling him about the three men they helped skate, and Yuuri spits out his toothpaste foam to say, “You’re telling me that Dean and Cas aren’t together?”

Viktor pops his head around the doorframe, his chest bare. “I know, right?”

Yuuri rinses his mouth and toothbrush, and moves out of the way so Viktor can brush his teeth. Sleep pants ride low on Viktor’s hips as he bends down to show Makkachin some love, too. This tiny bathroom is a little crowded with two men and a full sized dog. While he squeezes some toothpaste onto his toothbrush, Viktor says, “They’re completely oblivious. Been together for _over seven years_ but not in a relationship?”

Groaning, Yuuri falls back across the foot of the bed. “And I thought I was bad for not taking a hint for a few months.”

“And you FORGOT dancing with me.”

“There was a LOT of champagne involved,” Yuuri says defensively.

He gets up to lure Makkachin out of the bathroom while Viktor finishes. Knowing better than to get in bed before Viktor joins him, otherwise Makkachin will steal his spot, he occupies the dog with some belly rubs. Viktor comes to bed, turning off lights as he goes; they kiss and get settled under the covers. In the dark, they agree that if those two men have been oblivious for 7 years, then they totally should not interfere.

* * *

A couple of days later, they have a meeting. Everyone involved is at the rink; the skaters, the organizers, and some new people. All the skaters are on the bleachers along one side of the rink, chatting together in their own little groups. Yuuri and Viktor are off to the side, since Yuuri gets nervous around crowds. This is the first time since they’ve arrived that everyone’s been together, and the skaters he doesn’t know intimidate him. Yurio and Otabek are in the back, talking about travel plans, what they hope to see while touring America, and if it’s possible for a foreigner to rent a motorbike. Mila and Sara are in the middle of the crowd, having made friends with several Americans, their arms around each other’s waists.

Someone taps on a microphone, and the crowd quiets to see a woman with long brown hair leaning against the boards in front of them. She’s dressed in a pin-striped pantsuit, and she smiles warmly. “Thank you for agreeing to be a part of the inaugural Legends on Ice show. In case you don’t recognize me, I’m Katarina Witt, and I will be your choreographer for the group performances. Feel free to call me Kati.”

Nodding her head to the side, Kati draws forward Nancy and Brian, who also carry microphones. Brian says, “Nancy and I have been meeting with each of you and your coaches to figure out which of your personal routines you will be performing as well.”

They introduce a couple of other people who will be coordinating the program, such as the lighting director, and a special musical guest who will be writing some original music as well as performing on violin. “Lindsey Stirling is excited to be part of our tour, and while she is a lovely dancer, she can’t ice dance, so will be performing with her violin on stage.”

Nancy gestures to a petite redhead who gives then a huge grin and enthusiastic wave. An excited hum goes through the crowd as many recognize the independent artist. As the chatter quiets down, the meeting continues.

First off, they go over what the skaters have chosen for their individual performances. Most are choosing to perform their favorite routines from this previous season. J.J. insists on performing his “King JJ” routine, Yurio wants to do his “Welcome to the Madness” exhibition, and nobody is surprised that Yuuri and Viktor will be performing their “Stammi Vicino” duet. There is a murmur of surprise when they discover that the men will both be performing separate routines as well. Yuuri is going to skate a shortened “Yuri on Ice” routine, and Viktor has insisted on skating his short program, since he’s only performed it a few times.

Next, they discuss the new routines, and who will be performing them. Their theme this year is fairy tales, and they discuss the casting of parts for programs based on Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstilskin, The Emperor’s New Clothes (someone shouts out that J.J. should be the emperor, and that draws a laugh from the crowd), and more. They’ve even organized with some of the locations to showcase children’s skating classes for performing a Pied Piper routine.

They also want to do a couple cultural performances, that will be rotated out depending on the region. Such routines include an Eastern European showcase with traditional Russian dance, and the Japanese story of Momotaro, that will include fight sequences. The event’s finale will be loosely choreographed, with the skaters mostly performing freestyle, to showcase their personal flair.

The volume level of chatter increases as roles for the new sequences are discussed. Viktor gets pulled into a planning and discussion group for the Russian dance, and Yuuri is dragged by Phichit to the group who will be performing the Momotaro story. Yuuri gets excited when he discovers that they have obtained permission from Pepsi to use the music, story, and costume ideas from their commercial series. Their roles are assigned, with Yuuri shocked that he is chosen for the titular role of Momotaro. Phichit will be the pheasant, Leo is chosen to play the dog, and Seung-Gil frowns at his role of the monkey.

Everyone is handed a packet that includes a disk with rough choreography, the music, and costume designs. Papers with a list of the performers, as well as some choreography notes and diagrams fill out the rest of the packet. Skaters with lesser roles make their way into other groups after the initial introductions. It feels strange to Yuuri to be working on a program with skaters he’s once competed against, but Phichit and Leo’s enthusiasm soon assuages his fears, even though Seung-Gil looks less than thrilled. But then again it’s hard to tell with him, because that seems to be his default expression.

Soon, everyone is handed another packet with choreography schedules and information about the opening and closing numbers. They also get a list of tentative locations and dates for the tour. Nancy, Brian, and Katarina stand before them, and announce that the rest of the day should be spent looking over their packets and studying the routines.

With the official meeting adjourned, it gets increasingly loud as friends cluster together to discuss their roles. J.J. got the role of the Emperor after all, and he seems excited that he’s going to wear a flesh-colored unitard. There’s a group of women skaters tittering about the costume. Otabek and Viktor are huddled over a diagram for the Russian program, discussing their ability to do the Cossack Dance on skates. Leo and Phichit want to go out to eat, and are trying to convince Yuuri to join them. Chris is flitting around, pretending to be a wolf, since that’s his role for Red Riding Hood.

Yuuri looks at the choreography schedule. Tomorrow is their first day of group practice, and they’re going to start with everyone going over the basic moves for the opening and closing ceremonies. The first few days are packed with practice for all the new routines, and then it gets more relaxed so people can progress at their own pace. May is when the tour starts, their first performance here at the home stadium. Not every program will include every routine, and nobody will know until the week before opening who will perform first.

Phichit tells Yuuri they’ve chosen a restaurant, and are getting a ride with an American there. Looking over at where Viktor is still discussing his group’s routine, Yuuri says, “Oh, then you go ahead. I’ll wait on Viktor.”

“No.” Phichit places his hands on Yuuri’s shoulders. “You don’t need to be attached to your fiance’s hip all the time. I’ll text him where we’re going, and invite him to bring his crowd, too.”

Already leading Yuuri away by the arm, Phichit starts typing out a message for Viktor with his other hand. Yuuri looks over his shoulder at Viktor before finally giving in. It’s just dinner, after all. Turning around to face the group heading out of the rink, he rushes to catch up.

In the morning, everyone gathers for their first group practice. While they’re warming up, Leo asks if anyone has seen his friend Mark. Yuuri remembers one of the Americans asking to be dropped off at the stadium because he forgot something. He tries to remember if that was Mark. Leo explains that Mark’s roommate says he never made it back last night, so they’re worried. His phone goes straight to voicemail as well. Even so, in spite of their worry, practice begins.

* * *

Sam’s nearby pushing a broom when he overhears the skaters discuss their missing friend. As soon as he’s able to slip away, he’s calling Dean and Cas, and asks to meet them in the security room. With all three of them assembled, they look over the security camera footage from last night. They fast forward and watch as everyone leaves slowly in groups, and the ambient light fade as day shifts into night. There’s not much that happens, but then Cas says, “Stop!”

The camera facing the front doors shows a skater getting out of a van and entering the stadium. After several minutes, he leaves again with a thick folder under his arm. He looks down at his phone and walks out of frame. “Wait, that’s it?” Dean asks, exasperated.

“Perhaps he was attacked somewhere after he left the stadium,” Cas suggests.

“Well, we need a computer for that, and I didn’t bring one with me,” Sam retorts, frustration straining his voice.

“Actually, uhh…” Dean looks away and scratches the back of his head. “There’s one stashed in the Impala’s trunk.”

“What?” Sam exclaims, both he and Cas staring at Dean.

“OK, so maybe after driving the Zambo, I go hide in Baby for a while and chill out using the stadium’s wifi.” Dean shrugs.

“Then it would be prudent to go and get this computer then, wouldn’t it?” replies Cas.

They all end up out at the Impala, crowded around the laptop perched on the trunk lid. After some digging, they get into the area’s traffic camera recordings. Armed with the timestamp from the stadium’s security footage, they start tracing the missing skater’s footsteps after he leaves the property. He only makes it a couple of blocks before they see him disappear down an alley. Scrutiny of the video frame-by-frame shows that it appears he gets yanked forcefully.

“Alright, let’s go check it out,” Dean says, jingling the keys in his hand.

“Wait, Dean.” Sam checks his watch. “You’re gonna have to smooth out the ice soon.”

“But… Victim. Monster.” Dean gestures at the frozen image of the skater getting yanked into the alley.

“I agree with Sam,” Cas says. “We can’t all simply disappear for a length of time without an excuse. Since you’re the one who is proficient with the use of the ice resurfacer, you should stay behind while Sam and I inspect the alleyway.”

Dean pouts, and his body twitches as if he’s fighting the urge to throw a tantrum. “Fine. But you call me if you find _anything_ , you hear?” He points his finger at Cas and Sam in turn.

“Yeah, of course, Dean. We should get going. Cas?” Sam looks at Cas, who is already at the passenger door.  “Right.” He turns back to Dean. “I promise we’ll let you know as soon as we find something.”

Dean stands with his arms crossed as Sam gets into the driver’s seat and starts the car. After they’re moving, he stomps his way back inside. Once past the gates, Sam drives slow, looking for the alley where they saw the victim disappear. Cas points it out, and Sam parks near the curb.

They check the entrance, the walls, and the ground, but there’s no sign of anything. The alley is relatively clean, and they can’t figure out how the creature could have gotten in or out unless it can scale walls. That’s entirely possible, considering they don’t have a clue what it even is yet. An almost empty dumpster reveals no clues. Frustrated, they make their way out of the alley to stand at the opening with frowns on their faces. Sam turns around to get into the car, but Cas places a hand on his arm.

“Wait.” He squints, tilts his head, and bends his knees. “I think there’s something under the dumpster.”

Using a stick, Sam fishes out a broken smartphone. Its screen is shattered, and there’s blood on one corner. After carefully wrapping up the phone and double-checking under the dumpster with a flashlight, they head back to the stadium to fill Dean in on what they found.

Sam parks in their employee spot and turns off the ignition. He sits there a moment, and when he makes no move to get out of the car, Cas turns to him. “Is something the matter, Sam?”

“Cas, look.” Sam shifts in his seat to face Cas. “I think we have a good shot of finding this guy.”

“And how do you propose we do that?”

“I’m telling you first, because honestly I think Dean’s gonna freak out. But, uhm, I’ve been studying how to do spells.”

“Yes, I know,” says Cas, nonplussed.

“What do you mean?” Sam looks taken aback.

“All of the sigils and hex bags and demon traps are all some form of spell, Sam.”

“Oh.” Sam blinks at him before continuing. “I mean, like… active magic.”

“So you plan on performing a locator spell”

“Yeah. And you know Dean’s opinions about witches.”

“Sam, I’ve seen Dean freely employ other people who could cast spells. I don’t think he would be so hypocritical as to judge you for learning something useful.”

Sam purses his lips and looks down at the keys in his hands. “You really think so?”

“Absolutely. He loves you. If you explain to him the purpose, and are honest with your intentions, then I don’t see why he should be upset.”

Looking up at Cas, Sam gives him a grateful smile. “Thanks, Cas. I needed to hear that.”

“Yes. Now shall we go tell Dean what we’ve found?”

They go inside and show Dean the phone, encased in a plastic baggie. After swearing up a storm, he asks where they go from here. There’s a moment of silence, Sam’s lips thin as he debates if he should tell Dean what he can do. Giving Sam a look, Cas says, “I believe that I can try angelic tracking, although…” He looks away.

“Although what, Cas?” Dean looks at his friend, worried.

“Well, he hasn’t been the same after getting his Grace back, Rowena, Amara…” Sam clears his throat. “So he might not be able to track someone based off of a small amount of blood. But I think there are some symbols I found that could enhance Cas’ abilities.”

“Oh.” Dean looks down at the damaged phone. “Do you need my help with anything?”

Sam and Cas look at each other again. “If you don’t mind holding down the fort a little longer, Cas and I can get a location before we’re supposed to clock off.”

Dean looks disappointed. “Oh.” Nodding, he hands the phone back to Sam. “Then we might have a chance at ganking this thing before it kills the skater dude?”

“We can only hope.” Castiel glances at a clock on a nearby wall. “There are some materials we’ll need to gather. I’m sorry you have to stay here, Dean.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Can I keep the laptop with me at least?”

Smiling, Sam nods. “Sure, Dean.”

After they leave, Dean pouts, scrubs his hand through his hair, and goes to take out the trash. After that, he’ll spend some time on the computer until he’s gotta go smooth out the ice again. Sighing, he hopes the kid is OK.

Cas helps Sam perform the spell and get a location on where the missing skater should be located. As soon as Dean gets off work, they head back to the motel to prepare for the hunt, since they’ve determined it’s going to be underground in the sewers.

“Ugh, I hate sewers,” Dean grumbles while he checks the sharpness of his machete.

“I think we all hate sewers Dean, but we gotta find this kid.” Sam eyes the length of a silver dagger before sliding it in its sheath and strapping it to his calf.

“I would like to know what we're up against before heading into an enclosed space,” says Cas, refilling a couple of Zippo lighters. “While I understand the need for haste, it would be beneficial to at least have an idea of what we will be fighting.”

All they can do is go in as prepared as possible. Just north of the stadium is an industrial park, and that’s where the location spell led them. Unfortunately, the area that was marked is an empty space, no abandoned warehouses in which to hide. Sam found the city’s sewer maps earlier, and discovered an old junction directly below the space. Hence, why they’re preparing to go underground.

Armed with an assortment of different weapons, hexbags, flashlights, and other paraphernalia, they drive out to an area where they can easily access the sewer system out of sight. Once they're in the tunnels, they turn on their flashlights and draw their preferred weapons. Dean wields his machete, flashlight in his off hand. Sam carries the salt gun, leaning it against his shoulder while he carries a lantern. Cas has his angel blade at the ready, following behind the brothers.

It doesn’t smell as bad as they expected, possibly one of the benefits of being in a less populated area. As they get closer to the area the locator marked though, the smell of decay intensifies to the point both Dean and Sam are almost gagging. Cas takes the lead then, both brothers covering their noses and mouths with either a sleeve or bandana.

They reach the junction and stop to figure out which direction to go next, Cas sniffing down each tunnel. “Dude,” Dean says behind a bandana, “You could smell a bladder infection on a dead guy. How can you handle this?”

Cas’ nostrils flare as he exhales. “It’s all a matter of adjusting the sensitivity.” Tilting his head, he sniffs delicately. “I believe we will find the monster’s nest in this direction.”

“Your nose give you any idea what we might be up against?” Sam asks around his jacket sleeve.

“No, mostly I smell the decomposition of human flesh.”

“Right, well onward then, Lassie. Let’s go find Timmy.” Dean gestures forward with his flashlight.

Cas squints at him. “While I understand that reference, the victim’s name is actually Mark.”

Rolling his eyes, Dean follows as Cas heads down a tunnel. Further down, they come upon a kind of rounded chamber. It’s filled with corpses in varying degrees of decomposition. Most have been picked clean of their flesh, bones scattered everywhere. There must be years of bodies piled up. The monster that did this doesn’t appear to be around at the moment.

Sam’s the one to find Mark’s body. His throat has been torn out, body drained of blood. “So what drinks blood like a vampire, but then eats the victim’s flesh?”

Knocking over a pile of bones, Dean sidesteps. “I dunno, but setting fire to the whole pile and legging it out of here sounds like a good idea right about now.”

“I believe Dean’s suggestion is the wisest—” Cas pauses, turning his head to face a smaller, side tunnel. “Dean, Sam, get behind me. It seems our creature is returning.”

Instead of hiding behind Cas, they stand at either side of him, weapons ready. What emerges from the tunnel looks like some kind of shorter, shriveled cross between a wendigo and revenant. Gray flesh clings to the monster’s skin, patches of long, matted hair clinging to its scalp. What might have once been clothing hangs from its shoulders in dirty tatters. It sees them and stops in its tracks, hissing.

“What the fuck is that?” Dean hisses, raising his machete.

“Something dangerous and powerful. Make sure you don’t drop your hex bags, you might need them.” Cas raises his angel blade, straightening his back and preparing for battle.

The creature screeches, flinging a ball of green, dirty-looking magical energy at them. Cas pushes the Winchesters out of the way, barely dodging the magical projectile. Before they recover, the monster scrambles over the pile of corpses and bones, coming for them.

Castiel parries its sharp, clawed hands and yells, “Set it on fire! That’s its weakness!”

Sam’s the first one to dig out a lighter. He flicks its flame to life, and anxiously watches as Cas fights off the creature, his angel blade doing little to slow it down. “I can’t get a clear shot!”

“Just hit the thing with fire! I’ll be fine!” Cas ducks, nearly avoiding getting raked across the face with its claws.

“Dammit, Sam!” Dean cries, flicking his own lighter and throwing it at the monster. It bounces off, but manages to catch the corner of a bit of rag.

Sam finally throws his lighter, aiming for the smoldering place where Dean’s flame almost caught. He hits it square in the back, and the lighter fluid catches on a good chunk of filthy cloth. They watch as its back becomes engulfed in flames, and Cas pushes it away as it screams. The flame doesn’t take long to envelope the creature, spreading to some of the remaining clothing of the corpses it collapses upon. Cas drags the Winchesters down the hallway to safety as the whole pile goes up like a pyre.

“We need to go!” he calls, and turns to lead them toward the exit.

Once they make it out into fresh air, they collapse on the ground next to the Impala, coughing. “That- couldn’t have been a wendigo, could it?” Sam stammers as he gets a good, clean breath in him.

“No. These creatures are similar, but much more dangerous because of their ability to cast magic.” Cas says as he crouches between the brothers, checking up on both of them.

Dean leans against the side of the car and spits onto a patch of grass. “So then what was it?”

“The Skadegamutc, or ghost witch, is an indigenous, evil magic user who defies death and becomes a sort of undead creature that craves blood and flesh.”

“Skuggy da what now?” asks Dean.

“ _Skuh-deh-ga-mooch_. Usually seen in areas around New England and Quebec.” Cas flicks something nondescript and slimy from his trenchcoat. “I recognized it when it cast a curse at us.”

“And fire kills it?” Sam stands up to dust off his jeans.

“Yes.” Cas looks around. “We should probably make our way out of the area, the fire department should be on its way, if the smoke is any indication.” He points at where there is black smoke beginning to waft from some nearby manhole covers.

Sam is already halfway to standing, so Cas helps Dean to his feet, and stands back while the man digs the car keys out of a pocket. “Dibs on the first shower!” Dean calls as he unlocks the car.

The way back is relatively quiet. It would have been preferable to find the skater alive, or at least let the corpse be discovered, but burning all the remains is probably for the best, considering the police would have not been able to find an explanation for what happened to that many people over such a long period of time. That, and the horror of knowing their colleague died in such a gruesome manner seems worse for the skaters than not knowing at all.

* * *

Normally, the Winchesters would head directly out of town after a hunt, but Cas convinces them to stay for a little while longer, as the disappearance of three maintenance crew right after a vanishing skater and nearby sewer fire might be too suspicious and cause the authorities to try to track them down. So they fall back into the routine they’ve developed over the past week, keeping the stadium clean and the ice smooth. While many of the skaters are upset over the disappearance of one of their own, the training and practice continues, and Dean, Sam, and Cas get to watch the routines come together.

One day, while Cas is taking a break watching the skaters practice, he sees the Thai skater as he appears to pull a rodent from his sleeve. If there is a mouse infestation, this needs to be dealt with immediately. But as Cas approaches the skater, he sees him smile and wink, cradling the rodent in his hands.

“Please don’t tell! I wanted to bring my hamsters to practice with me.”

Oh. Pet hamsters are a completely different matter. Cas sits next to the skater, Phichit, if memory serves, and watches as a second hamster crawls out from the collar of his shirt. “I won’t tell. But how do you plan on skating with them?”

Phichit leans forward and produces a small plastic pet cage from between his feet. “They’ll be safe in here until I get back.”

“Then your secret is safe with me.” Cas watches as a third hamster crawls around on the skater’s thigh. “May I?” He asks, pointing to that one, since Phichit’s hands are full with the other two.

“Sure!” Phichit says with a wide smile.

Cas gently scoops up the small animal and watches at it sniffs his fingers. Perhaps the Winchesters should get some sort of pet. He and Phichit are discussing the pros and cons of different animals as pets, all three hamsters crawling around on his person when Dean comes up next to them.

“No, I refuse. We can’t keep pets,” Dean says, arms folded across his chest.

Phichit pouts at him. “I should probably put these little guys away, it’s almost time for my practice session.”

Cas reluctantly hands over the small, wiggly furballs, and thanks Phichit for allowing him to play with them. “Oh, any time! If you like, I can bring them more often and let you keep them company while I’m on the rink!” Phichit winks at Dean, “That is, if it’s alright with your _partner_ over there.”

Cas’ eyes widen, and Dean’s face immediately turns pink. “We-we’re not _that_ kind of partners! Just friends, co-workers,” Dean stammers.

Shrugging, Phichit laces up his skates. “If you say so.” Before he heads out onto the ice, he sneaks out his phone and snaps a picture of Dean looking at Cas holding the pet carrier, watching the hamsters nestle in the wood shavings. He’ll have to show it to Yuuri later. His friend is right, it’s ridiculous that these two could be completely oblivious to their feelings. They’re so obvious!

* * *

Since he’s convinced Sam and Dean that they should stay longer, Cas has been staying late to take the opportunity to skate around the rink as fast as he can. Gliding over the ice smoothly, air buffeting his face with the speed, it reminds him of flying. But it’s better when he closes his eyes, and he can’t do that alone without the risk of slamming into the rink wall. Thankfully, some nights Dean will put on skates and pull him along. Those nights are the best. They’re the nights Cas has the courage to ask to stay a little longer.

They’ve stayed another week at this point, and it’s surprising that Sam’s the one to snap first. Or maybe it’s not so surprising. As the skaters’ nervousness over the disappearance of their comrade have left tensions high, different people exhibit their stress in different ways. The Swiss skater named Chris had begun clinging to Sam in embarrassingly hilarious ways.

At least it’s hilarious for Dean. It’s gotten to the point that he’ll make sure Sam has a task to do at the rink whenever it’s time to drive the ice resurfacer. Today, Dean’s got a stereo perched on top of the machine blasting AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” bobbing his head to the music as he makes the trips around the ice. Every time he passes by where Sam’s in some way being flirted with, clung to, or otherwise occupied by the Swiss skater, Dean cackles with glee. Today Chris is clinging to Sam’s arm, making moon-eyes at him.

Yuuri watches the spectacle as Dean nearly swerves from laughing so hard. 「Does he even realize there is a stadium sound system?」 he mutters to himself in Japanese while scrolling through Phichit’s Instagram feed.

「I don’t think he cares, Dean is surprisingly a purist at the oddest of times,」 A deep, gravelly voice says from his right, making him jump.

Yuuri glances over to see Cas, and gawks at him in surprise. 「You speak Japanese?」 He remembers Viktor mentioning that Cas knew Russian, but he had no clue the man could also speak Japanese.

Cas nods, and switches to English. “I haven’t spoken it in a while, but yes.”

Curious, Yuuri asks, “What other languages do you speak?”

“Hmm... “ Cas crosses his arms and looks down. “I could most likely converse with all of the skaters here in their native tongues.”

“Whoa.” Yuuri is completely impressed by his talent.

Cas shrugs. “It’s something that comes naturally.” As if realizing what he’s just admitted, Cas glances up in alarm. “Please don’t share that piece of information! It might bother some of the other skaters. It’s not like I would eavesdrop on a private conversation or—”

“No, no, it’s OK! I won’t tell!” Yuuri flaps his hands at Cas. “Although it’s nice to know if I got homesick, I could talk to someone in my native language.”

Somehow, that seems to make Cas a little sad. But Yuuri doesn't want to ask why. Maybe Cas is from somewhere really remote, and doesn’t get to talk to anyone from there that often. He sits next to Cas quietly and watches Dean finish.

“Highway to Hell” plays as Dean does his last lap and heads for the garage. Cas stands up, and Yuuri nods to him as he leaves. On impulse, he calls out to him, “ano, nee…” (um, hey)

Cas turns to face him. Before Yuuri loses his courage, he says, 「It’s none of my business, but I think you two would make a good couple.」

Cas stares at him for a moment before replying, “Arigatou,” (thank you) and walks straight for the garage as if Yuuri hadn’t said anything at all except a polite greeting. What a strange man.

* * *

Sam goes home after the second week, frustrated with the Swiss skater that keeps hitting on him. Cas still wants to stay a little longer, since the first show will be coming up soon. Dean’s torn between heading back with Sam and staying with Cas, but then again he knows that his little brother has been texting that deaf hunter, Eileen. Maybe if Sam had some time to himself, he’d go meet the woman. She has spunk. So while Sam is packing his things, Dean announces that he and Cas will be staying for the first exhibition show.

Both Sam and Cas react at the same time, “Really?” Sam with an incredulous look, Cas with pleased surprise.

“What? Cas enjoys it, you wanna get away from the flirty guy, and… maybe there’s a new flavor of donut being released next week at Tim Horton’s I wanna try.”

Sam rolls his eyes. “I should have figured it would have something to do with food for you.”

Flopping down on the bed, Dean grabs the TV remote and turns it on. “Speaking of, what do we want for dinner?”

* * *

Their last week working at the stadium, Dean and Cas spend every after-hours evening at the rink. With a little help from the skaters who occasionally stop to say hello on their way out, Dean and Cas pick up a few new moves, and Cas can even do a Waltz jump now. Dean’s also picked up some new moves, and can now more easily pull Cas along, allowing the angel to keep his eyes closed for longer. Sometimes he thinks of asking if his wings will ever heal, but he’s afraid of the answer.

The skaters, as they pass, sometimes comment on how well they work together, or embarrassingly, how _good_ they look together. When those comments are made they both avoid looking at each other for a few minutes.

One night near the end of the week, Dean says, “Rollerblades or skates… whatever, shouldn’t be so different from ice skates, right? Maybe we can get you a pair, and you can roll through the Bunker’s halls.”

“Are you sure, Dean?” Cas gives him a pleased look.

“Yeah. Why not? Maybe I’ll get me and Sammy skates, too. Can you imagine him rolling through the hallways?”

They both chuckle lightly at the mental image. “Thank you, Dean,” Cas whispers.

* * *

Dress rehearsals happen the day before the first exhibition show, and everybody assembles on the ice for the opening performance. This will be one of the longest shows, because almost everyone will be performing their own personal skating routines, as well as at least one of the group skating programs. Everyone dresses in the primary outfit they’ll be wearing for the group skates.

Yuuri is in his Momotaro gear, modeled after the Pepsi commercial costume but redesigned to be more comfortable to wear while ice skating. His shirt is made of a black, breathable material that looks like leather under the lights, with some airbrushed design to look like it’s lightly armored. The red kusazuri has been shortened and designed to keep from hindering his leg movements. A wide, black headwrap sits just over his eyebrows, his hair having been teased and gelled for volume. He has a matching scarf around his neck to finish the look. His wooden prop sword hangs from his hip with strips of cloth hanging from its scabbard to flutter with his movements. That was a difficult thing to practice with, trying to not bump the scabbard while skating. Although learning to use a sword while skating has been fun.

The most challenging piece of the costume is his long, black, sleeveless coat, which is light and flexible, but is made to look thick and wooly. It’s supposed to flap out behind him and look impressive at first, but he removes it halfway through the program. The challenge is to not get tangled up in it. At least they cancelled the spiked gauntlets, because he’d been afraid of poking himself in the eye.

Phichit looks amazing in his pheasant costume, his golden headdress topped with enormously long fake feathers, and a two-sided cape that’s mottled brown on the outside, but lined with rainbow-hued feather-like layers that he can flap like wings. More than once, there’s been a discussion if Seung-gil should be the pheasant since one of his costumes this year looked like rainbow feathers. But he insists he prefers the claws and furry hood. When Leo first tested out his wire dog muzzle, he ran around barking and growling at everyone for a solid half hour. Now, he’s on the ice, his hair stage-painted white to match his costume, and he wiggles his rear to make the attached tail wag.

Everyone’s costumes look amazing, although J.J. looks a little ridiculous wearing his flesh colored unitard with white bloomer-style underwear, a crown perched jauntily on his head and red, royal cape trailing behind. Viktor waves, catching Yuuri’s eye. He looks breathtaking in his flowy white shirt, blue sash tied at his waist, and billowing red satin pants. Viktor had shown him a video of the traditional dance, and Yuuri had wondered how they would adapt it to skating. Now, he can’t wait to see Viktor perform it in costume.

Someone calls for attention over the sound system, and everyone settles.

* * *

Extra temporary staff have been hired for the exhibition to handle tickets, cleaning, security, etc. It works out that Cas and Dean are able to watch the performances, and they’re invited to sit with the performers, having formed friendships with several of them. The only time their view will be interrupted is when Dean will need to go run the resurfacer, Cas helping the prep and cleanup to make it go faster. There will be two showings before moving to the next city, and Dean and Cas will be staying for both before heading out of town. The stadium will have to find a new driver after that.

The first night, there’s a buzz in the air, pop and rock music playing as the stadium fills up with spectators. Cas and Dean are seated in the performer’s area which is mostly empty except for some friends and family of the skaters who could come for opening night. In between the two men is an assortment of snack food including hot dogs, pretzels, and nachos. Cups of both beer and cola are wedged in between.

Eventually, the lights dim and brighten a few times, and an announcer tells the audience the performance will begin shortly. People settle, the house lights dim, and colorful dots of light swirl across the ice as a rhythmic song begins to play. Shadowed figures appear on the ice, only illuminated by the colorful swirling dots. Then, when the the music changes to fanfare, white lights come on over the rink, revealing the entire ensemble of skaters in various costumes as they skate around the rink counter clockwise, waving. The crowd roars.

After the opening sequence are a couple of pair skater routines. Cas watches the performances with rapt attention while Dean works through his hot dog and nachos. The first of the fairy tale performances starts, based on Little Red Riding Hood. Chris is in the role of the wolf for this one, and Sara plays the girl in the hood. Even though Cas has watched numerous practices, seeing everything come together with the costumes, music, and lighting is amazing, and he is stunned at the feats that can be performed on ice.

In between each performance, the crowd of skaters around them comes and goes depending on the routine. Before Dean has to go run the resurfacer, they see Viktor’s performance of his short program. Gliding out onto the ice in a full suit with long tails, waistcoat, and tie, Viktor wears white gloves and a top hat. Cas has heard the song before during practice, but it makes him smile when a jazzy rendition of “Get Me To The Church On Time” begins to play. Since they have to prep the machine, they miss the very end of Viktor’s skating.

They get back to their seats with fresh drinks and some popcorn in time to see the Momotaro group performance, and both Cas and Dean are impressed at the skill involved to pull off the show. It surprises Cas every time he sees how Yuuri completely changes from the soft-spoken shy man, to the commanding presence he has on the ice as the Japanese warrior. Cas claps extra vigorously after the performance, and Dean gives a loud whistle.

Over the course of Cas and Dean skating together in the evenings, they’ve become accustomed to each other’s physical proximity. Dean helping Cas skate with his eyes closed has meant prolonged arm, wrist, or hand holding. It’s to the point neither think about their casual touches any more. It probably also helps that they have been surrounded by a large group of professionals for which affectionate companionship is normal. So neither Dean nor Cas flinch when they both reach into the popcorn bag together, hands brushing or even nudging each other in their quest for the salty, buttery treat.

Dean leaves early to use the restroom before the next round of resurfacing, and Castiel stays behind to watch the young Russian Yuri Plisetsky perform to a song called “Welcome to the Madness.” He’s wearing a mesh shirt with turquoise rhinestones patterned like a cross under a pink and purple cheetah-print jacket. His blond hair is braided along the sides of his head, with the top teased to look like a mohawk. His skating is passionate, and Cas almost forgets to leave early enough to help Dean with the machine.

While Dean gets bored with most of the individual skating routines, the athletic ability exhibited fascinates Cas. It’s such a combination of power and grace. Yuuri’s skating routine is next, and Cas watches once again as the man transforms on the ice, with the music and his motions, without words, telling a story. Yuuri had explained the routine is about his career as a skater, but it feels like more. While Cas usually doesn’t understand interpretive nuance, it plays out like a love story. But then again, Yuuri’s career involves meeting his fiance, Viktor.

The crowd erupts into cheers as the music’s final notes end, Yuuri’s hand extends toward where they know Viktor stands waiting for the man to exit the rink. Cas glances to the side to see Dean blink, a strange look of wonder on his face. He soon joins clapping with the rest of the crowd. Unable to ask Dean what he thought at the moment, Cas tells himself he’ll ask after the performance is over, when the crowds have dispersed, the rink quiet.

Right before the finale is the local children’s performance of The Pied Piper. It’s sweet how they are including local children in their performance, and Cas was told they will do this at several locations across the country. For the finale, it’s kind of a reverse of the opening, except the skaters have finished giving strenuous performances. Most are still in their most recent costumes, although those who finished performing earlier are wearing warm-up jackets.

Some of the skaters break from the swirling crowd to perform individual spins, jumps, or tricks. Cas is surprised to see Viktor and Yuuri perform a lift from their pair program, even though it wasn’t included in tonight’s performance. There’s still a roar from the crowd as the two stare at each other as if there is nobody else on the ice. While Cas is happy for the young couple, he can’t help but feel a slight pang that he will never have that, and he avoids looking at Dean’s reaction.

The performance over, house lights come up and the crowd begins to exit the stadium. Trash is placed into bins, and the area designated for skaters, friends, and family thins out as people go in search of whoever they were there to see. Dean clears his throat and stands, tilting his head towards the maintenance door that leads to the resurfacer garage. They still need to get the ice resurfaced once more, then clean the machine.

After they have the machine cleaned and prepped for tomorrow, Dean sits on the auger housing with a sigh. “Dude, that was exhausting. I don’t think I want to sit through all of that again, plus have to work this monster.” He pats the side of the resurfacer.

Cas tilts his head to the side in confusion. “How was today more tiring than usual?”

Dean purses his lips as he thinks of how to explain. “It’s an emotional thing. Like, when I watch a ball game on TV, I cheer for my team, right?” He waits for Cas to nod before continuing. “So it’s the same when you go to see a game, or a concert, or whatever this was. You get a whole bunch of people in a room cheering, and the emotional stress makes you physically tired.”

Cas ponders this information a moment. “I think I understand, Dean. Just as the experience is draining for you, it energizes whoever you are cheering for.”

“Yes!” Dean points at him. “That, exactly!”

This seems a good a time as any to mention what he noticed earlier. “Dean, may I ask you something?”

“What is it, buddy?”

“You mentioned emotional reactions to performances, and I noticed one from you earlier that I didn’t understand.”

Dean looks down and away. “That so?”

“Yes. I understand that you often have… trouble, vocalizing your emotions, but if you could try, I would like to understand.”

Dean clears his throat and scratches the back of his head. “Lemme guess, Yuuri’s skate to the piano music?”

Nodding, Cas takes one step closer to dean. “Your reaction was unexpected, and I would like to understand what it meant.”

“Okay, I guess we’re really doing this.” Dean places his hands on his knees, standing. He begins pacing along the side of the resurfacing machine. “So the kid told you what his skating routine meant, right?”

Cas nods. “Yes, although at twenty four, I hardly consider him a child.”

“It’s an expression, Cas. Anyway, so he and that Viktor guy are like a _thing_.”

“Engaged to be married.”

Dean glances at Cas. “Yeah. So. I think I just kind of picked up on the part where that happened while he was skating I guess, and it made me think about other things.”

This is an unexpected level of emotional honesty from Dean. Normally he’d shut down or make a joke by now. Cas keeps it going. “What other things did it make you think about, Dean?”

With a sigh, Dean’s shoulders sag. “I dunno, how I’m thirty eight years old, and my long-term relationships can be counted on both hands, and have fingers left over? How the fact that the people I care about keep dying? That I never expected to even reach thirty, let alone another eight, working on nine?”

Unsure what to say, Cas remains quiet and lets Dean continue.

“You almost died recently,” Dean mumbles. “Things were said… and I— I’ve been thinking about that.”

Cas stops breathing. His entire body becomes motionless, afraid to disturb Dean, both afraid and hopeful of what he might say next.

Dean continues to pace. “And if you meant what you said in the way I kinda hope you do, I think maybe we could try to, I dunno… work something out?”

With a shuddering breath, Cas’ body moves again. He walks up to Dean, and takes one of his hands. “Your way of speaking is vague and circuitous, but I hope I’m interpreting it correctly.”

Dean looks into his eyes, and Cas sees his insecurity. “Yeah?”

Nodding, Cas steps even closer, right into that personal bubble Dean maintains unless he decides to ignore his own rules. He steps close enough that they can feel each other’s breaths on their faces. “Yeah.”

When Dean and Cas leave the stadium that night, they hold hands on the way to the Impala.

* * *

The second day, the skaters are still riding the high from yesterday’s performance. The only ones that aren’t happy are the pair of skaters who flubbed a toss last night, resulting in the female partner landing wrong and twisting her ankle. While she made it through the rest of the performance, it’s too swollen and painful to skate on today. Katarina assures them that they did wonderfully last night, and that they should recover today instead of making it worse.

“This is why we arranged for more performances than there are time for, so we can rearrange schedules as necessary.”

Practice involves ironing out some of the issues that arose during performance last night, and preparing to skate the routines that were left out last night. Tonight they’ll skip the Russian cultural dance, and will replace it with the Rumpelstiltskin one. They will also rearrange some of the skating order, with Yuuri skating his single skate in Viktor’s spot, and with them skating the duet.

As practice winds down, Phichit is the one to notice Dean and Cas, and how their demeanor toward each other seems to have changed overnight. He surreptitiously takes some pictures before confronting Viktor and Yuuri. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he asks, waving his phone in their faces.

“Phichit, stop. What are you talking about?” Yuuri grabs the phone and looks at the picture of Dean and Cas standing close, their heads leaning toward each other.

Viktor grabs a handful of Yuuri’s jacket and hisses in his ear. “Are they flirting with each other right now?”

While Yuuri might not have much relationship experience, he knows a come-on face when he sees it. The half smile and _look_ Dean is giving Cas is definitely a come-on. And Cas is giving right back with a warm smile, his fingers trailing down Dean’s arm.

“Let’s ask Oblivious and Stoic,” Phichit suggests. “Hey, Yurio, Beka! Come here a moment?”

Yuri Plisetsky scowls at Phichit as he and Otabek come over. “I hate that nickname. What do you want?”

Viktor makes a small gesture in the direction of the two maintenance men. “Are those guys flirting with each other, or are they flirting with each other?”

Otabek places a hand on Yuri’s shoulder, his brows drawing down in a thoughtful scowl. “They do appear to be acting differently from before.”

Dean and Cas start walking toward the resurfacer garage to smooth the ice out after practice. They’re still close to each other, smiling as they talk. There’s a stage whisper in Yuuri’s ear from Mila. “What are we all gossiping about?”

She’s standing with her arm around Sara, who seems quite content to be pressed right up against the redhead. Phichit hands Sara his phone, the earlier picture of Dean and Cas on the screen. “You know the UST maintenance couple?”

Sara rolls her eyes. “How can I not? You guys have gossiped about them almost the entire time we’ve been here.” She looks up from the picture to where Dean’s holding the door open for Cas, his hand on the small of Cas’ back as he ushers him through first.

“Oh. My. God.” She looks back at the phone screen. “Are they a couple now?”

Mila lets out a little squeal and the girls bounce in excitement. “ _Something’s_ definitely changed between them.”

* * *

The second night’s performances are even better than the first, and everyone is happy with their skating. Viktor and Yuuri’s pair skate gets a standing ovation from the crowd, which of course embarrasses Yuuri. After the finale, everyone is milling about, congratulating each other on a job well done.

Leo comes up to Viktor and Yuuri, giving each of them a big hug. “You will never believe what I witnessed during your pair skate.” He tells them about how during the entire performance, Cas was whispering the translated lyrics of the song to Dean, their heads touching. “And they were holding hands, guys!”

Viktor turns to Yuuri. “Do you think we should congratulate those two men for finally seeing what was right in front of them?”

“Remember how embarrassed I got when Phichit thought we’d gotten married? How about we let them get used to their relationship for a whole five seconds first.”

Viktor kisses Yuuri’s forehead. “Of course, _lyubov moya_ (my love).”

It turns out, they never even get a chance to congratulate the two men, because they handed in their stadium IDs and keys that night, and never came back.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, please let me know if I need to add tags!
> 
> This is my first time not breaking up a fic of this size into chapters, and I'm trying a different writing style. What do you think?
> 
> If you haven't seen the Pepsi Momotaro commercials, you should!  
> (whispers) They're all subtitled, although for most of them you have to turn on Closed Captioning.  
> [Episode 0](https://youtu.be/wNX-YmS9g7w)  
> [Episode 1](https://youtu.be/NAqpT98f6rw)  
> [Episode 2](https://youtu.be/zeY_R1geOK4)  
> [Episode 3](https://youtu.be/_nQZdcdn71Q)  
> [Episode 4](https://youtu.be/qeAv-7yIl5o)  
> 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Supernatural On Ice [Art Post]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10547602) by [heartmurmur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartmurmur/pseuds/heartmurmur)




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